The Must List, featuring the Music of Billie Holiday, a New Design House and Nick Garrison in Many Hats

Posted on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 10:49pm

By:

Seattle Magazine Staff

MUST SHOPHouse of FashionCouture designer and recent Bay Area transplant Marta Kappl has a new a combined clothing boutique and collaborative “designer incubator” in downtown Seattle. Browse the store’s retail racks Mondays through Saturdays for designer evening wear, casual wear, jewelry and more truly-local creations. Read Kate Calamusa's profile of the store from the February issue to learn more about the emerging designers in-residence now.

Check out Columbia City’s new music venue The Royal Room, where talented local songstress and Cornish jazz vocals professor Johnaye Kendrick performs the timeless standards of “Lady Day.” Backed by local musicians, including Craig Flory and Matthew Weiner, this promises to be a romantic evening perfect for jazz connoisseurs and casual listeners alike. If you haven’t heard of Kendrick, it may be because she’s often out of town, singing around the country with Nicholas Payton SEXTET, the Ellis Marsalis Quartet and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.

MUST WATCHI Am My Own WifeLocal theater superstar Nick Garrison (famous for his lead role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch) brings more than 30 characters to life in this play (by Doug Wright, of Quills) about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a real-life German transvestite who dodged the Nazis by dressing as a woman. A unique story of survival, I Am My Own Wife garnered both a 2004 Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for Best Play. Directed by Jerry Manning and with sets by Jennifer Zeyl, the local revival of the show is doubly exciting.

MUST HEARThom Jones and David Long in Conversation with Brangien Davis

Seattle mag arts & culture editor Brangien Davis talks with with two towering timbers of the Northwest writing community, in celebration of the new issue of Granta literary journal. David Long (The Inhabited World) and Thom Jones (The Pugilist at Rest) join Davis at Elliott Bay Books to discuss their work and the theme “Exit Strategies.”

MUST TASTE4 Food Groups of Super Bowl SundayFood critic Allison Austin Scheff is best known for reviewing fine dining establishments, but with previous experience in the catering world, she’s also a legit hostess-with-the-mostess. Just in time for the Super Bowl this Sunday, she shares simple, but essential tactics for offering the most satisfying casual party snacks, whether you’re making them at home, or ordering them to-go.